Is It Possible That a Single Author Wrote the Book of Mormon?

Book of Mormon Central is a team of ardent students of the Nephite scripture working together to share the wonders of this inspired masterpiece with the world. Their latest video explains how the Book of Mormon’s internal claims about its authorship are consistent with the best stylometric evidence currently available.

A recent article on their website states:

“To date, the combined data from several valid stylometric studies on the Book of Mormon have demonstrated that it has multiple, distinct writing styles and that those styles are consistent with the authors designated within the text itself.2

One may naturally wonder, though, if the Book of Mormon’s diversity of style is in any way unique or impressive. Is it possible that a creative writer could have produced its variety of distinct styles?

Several early studies using simplistic stylometric methods suggested that it is indeed possible for a talented author to create multiple styles or “voices” for different fictional characters.3

In a recent study, using a more robust method, Matt Roper, Paul Fields, and Larry Bassist found persuasive evidence to confirm this hypothesis.4 Using a statistical technique called principal component analysis (PCA), they analyzed the function-word patterns of fictional characters created by four highly regarded 19th century novelists: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), and James Fenimore Cooper.5”

Having successfully detected distinct voices for fictional characters created by 19th century novelists, the research team next applied this same stylometric method to the writings of characters in the Book of Mormon. You can read the results of the study on Book of Mormon Central’s >>> website.

You can also watch this very interesting and informative video that BOM Central created below. This will enhance your testimony of the Book of Mormon, that it truly is what it says it is and that Joseph Smith translated the book.